By the end of the [[Third Age]], at the time of the [[War of the Ring]], Moria had become a dark and cursed place. When [[Frodo Baggins]] set out from [[Rivendell]] with the [[Fellowship of the Ring|Fellowship]], they at first planned to travel over the Misty Mountains. When they were stopped by snow on [[Mount Caradhras]], they found themselves pursued by wolves and Orcs, and fled into Moria, so as to go under the mountains. There they found Balin's journal in the [[Book of Mazarbul]] and learned the fate of his expedition. They were then set upon by a host of [[Trolls]] and Orcs, and they discovered that the terror was, in fact, a [[Balrogs|Balrog]] of [[Morgoth]]. [[Gandalf]] fought the Balrog on a narrow bridge and succeeded in destroying a section of bridge to make the Balrog fall. As it fell, the Balrog snagged Gandalf's leg with its whip of thongs and pulled him after it, sending them both plunging into the abyss spanned by the bridge. The rest of the Fellowship managed to escape Moria and reach [[Lórien in Middle-earth|Lórien]] mostly unharmed.

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By the end of the [[Third Age]], at the time of the [[War of the Ring]], Moria had become a dark and cursed place. When [[Frodo Baggins]] set out from [[Rivendell]] with the [[Fellowship of the Ring|Fellowship]], they at first planned to travel over the Misty Mountains. When they were stopped by heavy snow on [[Mount Caradhras]], that was caused by [[Saruman]], they found themselves pursued by wolves and Orcs, and fled into Moria, so as to go under the mountains. There, they found Balin's journal in the [[Book of Mazarbul]] and learned the fate of his expedition. They were then set upon by a host of [[Trolls]] and Orcs, and they discovered that the terror was, in fact, a [[Balrogs|Balrog]] of [[Morgoth]]. [[Gandalf]] fought the Balrog on a narrow bridge and succeeded in destroying a section of bridge to make the Balrog fall. As it fell, the Balrog snagged Gandalf's leg with its whip of thongs and pulled him after it, sending them both plunging into the abyss spanned by the bridge. The rest of the Fellowship managed to escape Moria and reach [[Lórien in Middle-earth|Lórien]] mostly unharmed.

Unknown to the Fellowship, both Gandalf and the Balrog survived the fall and fought a ferocious battle from the depths of Moria to the mountains above, demolishing the top of the legendary [[Endless Stair]] and a part of the surrounding mountain peak in the process. Gandalf cast down the Balrog upon the mountainside and lived just long enough to see it die, but his story was not yet ended. (See [[Gandalf]]'s entry for further details.)

Unknown to the Fellowship, both Gandalf and the Balrog survived the fall and fought a ferocious battle from the depths of Moria to the mountains above, demolishing the top of the legendary [[Endless Stair]] and a part of the surrounding mountain peak in the process. Gandalf cast down the Balrog upon the mountainside and lived just long enough to see it die, but his story was not yet ended. (See [[Gandalf]]'s entry for further details.)

Khazad-dûm (also known as Moria, The Black Chasm, The Black Pit, Dwarrowdelf, Hadhodrond, Casarrondo and Phurunargian) was the grandest and most famous of the mansions of the Dwarves. There, for many thousands of years, a thriving Dwarvish community created the greatest city ever known.

It lay in the central parts of the Misty Mountains, tunnelled and carved through the living rock of the mountains themselves. By the Second Age a traveler could pass through it from the west of the range to the east.

First Age

Durin the Deathless thus became King Durin I of Khazad-dûm. Afterwards, other rulers of Khazad-dûm were sometimes named Durin, as they were considered to be his reincarnations, who the dwarves believed came to live again among his people.

As the millennia passed, the descendants of Durin sat upon the throne of Khazad-dûm, and their cavernous city became famous throughout the world. It even has a passing mention in Quenta Silmarillion, the tale of the Elf-lords and their wars far to the west, though to them it was no more than a distant rumour they heard from the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains on their borders.

Second Age

Doors of Durin

The Noldor, out of Lindon, founded a country of their own by the western gates of Khazad-dûm, Eregion. A rare friendship sprang up between the Dwarves and the Elves of this new land. Eregion's ruler, Celebrimbor, helped to construct the famous and magical gate that became known as the West-gate of Moria, and indeed went so far as to present King Durin III with a Ring of Power. The friendship of Khazad-dûm and Eregion came to a sudden end, though, in II 1697, when Sauron overran the country of the Elves, and the doors of Khazad-dûm were sealed against his forces.

Third Age

Eventually, Sauron was defeated and Khazad-dûm continued to thrive. Most of its great wealth was based on the Mithril that was found in its mines, and as the centuries passed, the Dwarves mined deeper and deeper for the precious metal. In the year III 1980, they dug too deep, and unleashed a nameless terror from the depths beneath the city. The creature wreaked dreadful destruction, and in slaying the then King, Durin VI, became known as Durin's Bane. In the following year, Durin's son, Náin I, was also lost, and the Dwarves fled their ancient home.

After millennia as one of the richest cities in Middle-earth, Khazad-dûm stood dark and empty, but for the brooding menace the Dwarves had released. In that time it was given a new name, Moria, the Black Pit.

The monster - a Balrog of Morgoth, as was later known - lurked alone in Moria for nearly five hundred years. After that time, the old city of Khazad-dûm began to be peopled again, but not by Dwarves. Sauron directed his creatures there, and it began to fill with orcs and trolls. Though the orcs' numbers were greatly reduced in the Battle of Nanduhirion, fought in the valley beneath Moria's East-gate in III 2799, the Balrog could not be bested, and Khazad-dûm remained a citadel of darkness.

Recovery

Several Dwarven generations later, there were two attempts by the Dwarves of Durin's line to reclaim their ancient home. The first of these was by Balin, who had accompanied Bilbo Baggins on the Quest of Erebor; he led a colony of Dwarves there from Erebor in III 2989, but though he was successful at first, he was eventually defeated and slain. Balin,

The story of the second attempt to recolonize the Dwarf-mansions is less clear, but it seems that sometime during the Fourth Age, Durin VII became King of Durin's Folk, and led a final return to the city. It seems he was successful, so that long after the War of the Ring, the Dwarves of Durin's line reclaimed their inheritance, and the hammers rang again in their great halls beneath the Misty Mountains until the race of Dwarves ended.

The Fellowship of the Ring incident

By the end of the Third Age, at the time of the War of the Ring, Moria had become a dark and cursed place. When Frodo Baggins set out from Rivendell with the Fellowship, they at first planned to travel over the Misty Mountains. When they were stopped by heavy snow on Mount Caradhras, that was caused by Saruman, they found themselves pursued by wolves and Orcs, and fled into Moria, so as to go under the mountains. There, they found Balin's journal in the Book of Mazarbul and learned the fate of his expedition. They were then set upon by a host of Trolls and Orcs, and they discovered that the terror was, in fact, a Balrog of Morgoth. Gandalf fought the Balrog on a narrow bridge and succeeded in destroying a section of bridge to make the Balrog fall. As it fell, the Balrog snagged Gandalf's leg with its whip of thongs and pulled him after it, sending them both plunging into the abyss spanned by the bridge. The rest of the Fellowship managed to escape Moria and reach Lórien mostly unharmed.

Unknown to the Fellowship, both Gandalf and the Balrog survived the fall and fought a ferocious battle from the depths of Moria to the mountains above, demolishing the top of the legendary Endless Stair and a part of the surrounding mountain peak in the process. Gandalf cast down the Balrog upon the mountainside and lived just long enough to see it die, but his story was not yet ended. (See Gandalf's entry for further details.)

While Gandalf had felled the Balrog and some of the orcs of Moria died in the War of the Ring, Moria remained a place of evil creatures until the time of the last Durin.

The Layout of Khazad-dûm

Khazad-dûm was a huge array of chambers, passages, mines, halls, stores and pits. In general, areas were either classed as mines or city. The mines were working sections of Khazad-dûm whilst the city was the area of habitation.

The city areas of Khazad-dûm were clustered mainly to the east; these were the oldest parts of the kingdom and had good access to the East-gate. They were structured into seven Levels and seven Deeps. The Levels stretched above the gate whilst the Deeps were set deeper within the mountain below the level of the East-gate. It is possible that the First Level (on which the East-gate was set) and the First Deep were highly intertwined.

The eastern section of the city spaces had also been delved in such a manner as to have light shafts to illuminate their chambers. One example of this is the Chamber of Mazarbul which was located on the eastern edge of the Seventh Level.

The mine areas of Khazad-dûm were interlaced with the city spaces, but spread also westward toward the Western-gate. The mines ran deeper and further than any other tunnels within Khazad-dûm, and it is possible that more of the lower Deeps were given over to mining, although this is only conjecture.

The defined change between mines and city can be seen when the Fellowship pass through Moria - there is a marked difference between the early passages and chambers and those of the city structures illuminated by Gandalf.

Far below Moria, there are abysses, spaces and tunnels not known even by the Dwarves, but known by the Balrog. Unknown beings gnaw the earth and make them, far from the knowledge of any lore.

References

"Who told you, and who sent you?" — Gandalf
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